Head teacher confident for the future after praise from Ofsted inspectors

A Huntingdon school has turned around its fortunes less than year after it was deemed inadequate by Ofsted inspectors.

In July last year, the education watchdog placed St Peter’s School into special measures but, following a recent inspection, the secondary has seen its rating improved to ‘good’.

It comes after the school joined the Cam Academy Trust, formerly known as the Comberton Multi Academy Trust, in September in a bid to drive up standards.

Christopher Bennet, head teacher of St Peter’s School, said: “This report is a true reflection of the hard work and commitment shown by the staff, students, parents and community to create the ‘good’ school they deserve. I’d like to thank the whole community for the role they have played in making this happen.

“The school has faced some challenges over the past few years, but the improvements that we have made collectively are now having a real and meaningful impact. Over time I am confident this will help to improve outcomes for all students in the community.”

The secondary school was rated good in four of the five areas inspected by Ofsted, including effectiveness of leadership and management, quality of teaching, learning and assessment and, personal development, behaviour and welfare.

Following the inspection in July last year, Ofsted criticised the school for its lack of record-keeping and insisted that the school address the shortfall in safe-guarding practices for a small minority of pupils.

But during the visit at the beginning of March, inspector Kim Pigrim highlighted that a dramatic transformation had taken place, with practices significantly improved.

In her report, Ms Pigram said: “The head teacher and his team have worked with tremendous resilience to improve the quality of safeguarding.

“Safeguarding is now not only effective, but a real strength of the school.”

The school’s sixth form was also reported to be a strength with inspectors finding that “good teaching, high quality leadership and monitoring, and targeted intervention, led to steady improvement in the sixth form outcomes in 2016”.

Stephen Munday, chief executive of The Cam Academy Trust, said: “This is an excellent Ofsted report and the school should be very proud.

“The school had already made significant improvements when it joined our trust in September and we are delighted to have helped them achieve the ‘good’ rating they deserved.”